


Unbeholfen

by moeblobmegane



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Kageyama Tobio, Background TsukiHina - Freeform, Bad Flirting, Communication Failure, Fluff and Crack, Getting Together, Insecure Yamaguchi, M/M, Misunderstandings, supportive friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 06:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15551778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moeblobmegane/pseuds/moeblobmegane
Summary: Kageyama is crushing hard on Yamaguchi Tadashi.Yamaguchi thinks Kageyama Tobio wants to murder him and sell his organs.It's... a mess, really.





	Unbeholfen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BarnstormingGorilla](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarnstormingGorilla/gifts).



> for tsubomoose!!!
> 
> Thanks musicalhoex and my soulmate naya for the beta!!!

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

Truth be told, it was a crush at first sight.

The large lecture hall was filling in with students, some milling around near the professor’s platform while most chose their seats. It was a big class, with more than a hundred students. Their buzzing voices was muffled through Tobio’s headphones, but he could still hear bits and pieces of conversation. There were high school classmates meeting again for the first time, and some college friends pleasantly surprised to be in the same class again.

Tobio kept his head down as he sat on the third row and ignored the noise around him.

That was, until he heard someone laughing.

He couldn’t help but search for the source, finding it on the row in front of him. It was an ungraceful sound, too loud and sudden, making a few students look towards that direction as well.

The laughing boy evidently noticed because he blushed brightly and ducked his head.

Even though he hid his face quickly, Tobio managed to see those wide hazel eyes and those freckled cheeks. He saw that cute little nose and those expressive eyebrows. He saw the way his mouth gaped open and his cheeks grew pink.

Tobio wanted to memorize that expression.

He wanted to memorize that sound, too.

No matter how ungraceful, it held true joy that echoed in Tobio’s mind. There was warmth and openness in that sound, a tone he hadn’t heard from anyone in a while. It wasn’t a noise. It was music to Tobio’s ears.

He wanted to hear it again.

Staring at the guy’s back, he thought, ‘ _I want to get to know him_ ’.

 

His chance arrived a few minutes later when their professor walked into the class with a clipboard. She handed it over to a student on the first row, telling her to sign on it and pass it to her right. It was an attendance sheet, containing their full names, years, and courses.

Sitting right behind the Cute Boy™, Tobio had a chance to peek at the paper. He’d have a name to go with the face.

As soon as the paper was close, he leaned forward and tracked its movement the same way he watched a ball on the court. The Cute Boy™ took it with a muttered thank you and immediately flipped to the last page, scanning the list by dragging his pointer finger on the names.

“There,” he said, smiling in triumph. Unsurprisingly, that smile was cute, too.

Tobio grinned as he took the paper from Cute Boy™. Instead of looking for his own name, he focused on the task at hand. There was only one signature in the last page:

 _Yamaguchi Tadashi, 1st year, BS Biochemistry_.

ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌ ┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

Tadashi was what people called a _bully-bait_.

In fact, he met his current best friend back in elementary because Tsukki interfered while a bully was teasing Tadashi. Even after, when he got his growth spurt and he and Tsukki towered over everyone, bullies still found a way to mess with him.

It wasn’t as bad as those scenes in TV dramas—with the wet uniforms and the vandalized desks—but Tadashi had his fair share of experiences. He used to treat his elementary bullies to after-school ice cream because they knew he had money to spare. In high school, he had to run errands for some gangsters until Tsukki found out and blackmailed the leaders into letting Tadashi go. He had been ignored by his classmates for no reason, or laughed at because of his appearance.

Tadashi thought college would be his chance to be free of that.

It seemed he was wrong.

 

The incident happened when Tsukki casually mentioned that Hinata woke up early that morning to try and cook them breakfast.

“He burnt pancakes, then tried to hide the charred bits with strawberry syrup,” he said. “It looked like a murder scene.”

Tadashi couldn’t help but laugh at the image. Hinata’s cooking was a thing of legends, and Tsukki was the (un)lucky guy who got to taste it every time. Tsukki’s disgusted look only made him laugh harder.

That was, until he noticed people staring.

 _Ah_. He did it again, didn’t he?

One of the bullies in high school had told him he had an ugly laugh, that it was grating and annoying. It was one of the reasons why they didn’t like him.

And now, on his first day of college, he did it again. Great. What a good first impression.

He ducked his head and hoped people would ignore the noise he made.

 

Minutes later, he could still feel someone’s gaze on him. It sent a shiver of fear down his spine. A quick glance proved his theory: the student behind him was _glaring_ at him with murder in his eyes. It was terrifying.

He tried to ignore it.

He focused on his conversation with Tsukki, then later, on the drone of their biology professor talking in front of the class. He focused on looking over the syllabus and putting little notes on it to remind him what the professor valued in his grading. He tried very hard to focus on anything else and ignore the murder eyes the boy was sending him.

He tried valiantly.

He failed.

Because after signing on the attendance sheet, Murder Eyes™ himself tapped Tadashi on the back and asked, in a low growly tone, “Are you done?”

Tadashi meekly nodded.

Murder Eyes™ sneered at him and took the attendance sheet, glaring at the names as if they personally offended him.

 _Ugh._ It’s the first day of class and someone already hates him.

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

Being a varsity scholar meant that Tobio moved into his dorm room and checked in with his team a week before class officially started. That meant that he had already met most of the players who would make up his varsity team.

One of which was an orange-haired shorty named Hinata Shouyou.

Unlike most of his new teammates, he already met Hinata back in high school. Their teams only met once at Nationals and his team lost to Tobio’s in the semi-finals, but Hinata was a memorable opponent.

He was fast and had a keen volleyball sense that made him a monster on the court. His endurance was almost inhuman. For a few moments, it felt like he could single-handedly win the game.

It wasn’t possible, of course. Volleyball is a team sport. No matter how good someone is, without the best support, they wouldn’t get past Tobio’s team on their own. Hinata didn’t have the backing Tobio had.

After the handshake line, all Tobio thought of was maximizing that monster’s potential. He wanted to meet Shouyou again and be on the same team.

A few months later, he got his wish.

Tobio was excited to set for someone so fast.

Hinata was not as eager to spike for him.

They clashed.

If it wasn’t for Nishinoya-senpai (the best libero Tobio had ever known) not-so-gently telling them to either work together or go home, they wouldn’t have pulled themselves together. Luckily, his scolding worked, and it was one of the most productive Volleyball Camps Tobio had ever gone to. They learned from each other and polished their teamwork.

And, in the end, they found a friend in each other. Tobio might even call Hinata his best friend. Mostly because he didn’t have anyone else who understood his obsession with volleyball the way Hinata did.

“Bakageyama!”

He looked up in time to see Hinata climbing the ledge of the stairs, raising both hands and jumping towards him with a huge grin on his face.

“Idiot!” he exclaimed, even as he spread his arms to catch the other boy. As soon as Hinata was on the ground, Tobio scowled and hit him on the head. “You careless dumbass! You could get injured! Stop jumping off the second floor!”

Hinata pouted. “It wasn’t the second floor! And you caught me!”

“I shouldn’t have,” Tobio muttered angrily. “What if I injured my wrist?”

Eyes widening in mortification, Hinata said, “You wouldn’t be able to set for me if that happened!”

“So don’t do it again.”

“I won’t!” Hinata nodded solemnly.

“Why aren’t you at the gym?”

“I was waiting for you. You’re the only one I know here.”

Tobio frowned. “That never stopped you from barging into places.” Hinata once told him that he sneaked into a volleyball camp in Miyagi during his first year, and they didn’t have any choice but to keep him there as a ball boy. Hinata had no shame, and it was one of the reasons why Tobio liked being around him.

“I’m _maturing_ ,” Hinata said, uttering it slowly like he was repeating someone else’s words. “Kei said we should have a united front, and show them how good we are as a team. That way, they’ll give us a chance to play together!”

Ah, there it is: Kei’s golden advice.

When they first met, Hinata mentioned his girlfriend about three sentences in, with no prompting. Tobio soon figured out that he did that for most conversations, finding a connection to his partner in any topic he threw at him. Since Kei was a volleyball player too—a great middle blocker if Hinata was to be believed—Tobio didn’t mind much.

Besides, she gave really solid advice.

“Huh,” Tobio said. “We should do that.”

Hinata beamed. “Right! Let’s go!”

They raced together to the gym doors.

ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌ ┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

Living alone in a whole new different city—especially a large busy one like Tokyo—was a horrifying concept. He survived his first day without any traumatic event, though. It helped that he wasn’t alone here. He will forever be thankful that Tsukki into the same school as him, and Hitoka’s college was only one train station away. It eased his anxiety knowing he still had them.

As planned, they met up after school at the McDonalds a few blocks from the train station—like how they used to do in high school. There was nothing like being in a dying volleyball club to bring people together. The three of them did everything together back then as they tried to keep their team alive.

They lost that fight in the end, but it brought them closer than anything.

“Hey!”

Hitoka’s smile was like a healing balm for his soul. He waved her over enthusiastically, and laughed at Tsukki’s pinched expression when she immediately threw her arms around them.

“I missed you guys!” she exclaimed, squeezing them closer.

“We saw each other last week,” Tsukki said with a huff. He turned on his seat to dislodge himself from her hug.

Tadashi and Hitoka shared a look of amusement as she moved to the empty seat beside Tsukki.

“What’s got him so sulky?” she asked Tadashi, completely ignoring Tsukki’s scowl. “He’s in the same college as Hinata. And they live together! It sounds like a dream!”

“A nightmare,” Tsukki corrects.

Tadashi laughed. “Tsukki forgot his key at home and Hinata can’t come home early because he has a Welcome Party with his new team.”

“Tsukki? Left something?” Hitoka exaggeratedly widened her eyes. “Are you having memory problems already, Tsukishima-san?”

“I was distracted,” Tsukki grumbled.

With a teasing grin, Hitoka asked, “By what?”

“Food poisoning.”

“What?”

Seeing her confusion, Tadashi hurried to relay the story of Tsukki’s breakfast with Hinata. Hitoka, with no sympathy at all, laughed harder than Tadashi did this morning. She slapped her hand on Tsukki’s back, laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes.

“You’re both awful,” Tsukki groaned. He took a burger from the pile they bought and focused instead on eating, clearly intent on ignoring them.

“How about you?” Hitoka pushed the large fries at him and took a burger of her own. “How was your first day?”

“He’s being paranoid,” Tsukki answered for him, probably to get back for earlier.

“I’m not! That guy really was glaring at me! And he looked like he wanted to beat me up if I didn’t finish signing the attendance faster!”

Hitoka immediately looked concerned. “Did he do anything?”

“No. He just glared the whole class.” Tadashi picked up a fry and nibbled on it, trying to remember the look on Murder Eyes™’s face. “I don’t think he’ll approach me or anything. If I keep my head down, he’ll forget about me.”

He really, really hoped that was the case.

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

Tobio didn’t believe in luck but the next day, when he saw Cute Boy™ sitting at the other side of his Communication Arts classroom, he felt like Lady Luck was on his side. It was a small classroom, about one-eighth the size of their Bio 1 lecture hall. There were, at most, twenty students in attendance. Even though they were at opposite sides of the room, Tobio could still see him clearly.

Their professor—” _Don’t call me Tanaka-sensei, please. Call me Saeko”_ — gave him another lucky break. She asked them to stand up one by one and give their names, courses and one trivia about themselves.

He hated speaking in front of a class, but if this meant he could learn more about his crush, then he was willing to make a sacrifice. Besides, he took this class because Ushijima Wakatoshi said taking a Communications class was an essential part of being a world-class athlete. Talking to the media was going to be a part of his future career.

This was simply practice for that.

“Tobio Kageyama. I’m studying Sports Science and I’m a varsity volleyball player. I’ve been playing volleyball since I was in elementary.”

There. Done. As Ushijima Wakatoshi said, simple and straightforward is the road to success.

 

Soon enough, it was time for Yamaguchi to introduce himself.

“I’m, uh,” Yamaguchi started, staring up at the ceiling, “Tadashi Yamaguchi. I’m pre-med, majoring on biochemistry. I- uh. I hate speaking in front of the class?” He laughed self-deprecatingly. Seemingly as charmed as Tobio was, the class laughed with him. The way he blushed as he looked around before sitting down was adorable too.

“Hopefully, you’d change your mind after being in this class,” Saeko-sensei said, smiling warmly before urging the next student to go on.

The introductions went on for another few minutes. When everyone was done, she passed them a pile of the syllabus to distribute so they could discuss the various rules of the class.

Tobio found himself dozing as Saeko-sensei droned about attendance and essays and the readings they had to read in the future. Academics was never his strong point. He was here for the volleyball team, after all. He had to keep his grades up to make sure he could play, but that didn’t mean he had to listen to everything. It didn’t mean he could concentrate in class for long.

He’d rather discuss the strengths and weaknesses of Team Japan’s Youth Volleyball team, and what would happen when Ushijima moves on to the next level.

“Kageyama.”

He straightened up and looked at the professor, hoping he wasn’t in trouble, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was reading off names from her notebook.

“You’re with Yamaguchi.”

Shifting his gaze to the other boy, he saw that Yamaguchi was already staring at him with his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open. He probably was shocked to hear his name being called, too.

“I’ll give you the remaining time to coordinate with your partners. Be sure to plan together now to make the rest of your essay-writing process easier. This paper is due next week.”

Tobio felt luckier than he had felt when Sakusa’s serve was deemed out of bounds and won them the game against Itachiyama. It seemed like fate was giving him a chance to get to know his crush properly.

ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌ ┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

“What are we supposed to do here?”

Tadashi could feel his hands shaking as he sat down beside Murder Eyes™. Sweat trickled down his forehead and he couldn’t keep his eyes on the other boy. He had to look down on the floor and take deep breaths to even find the courage to speak. He could feel Kageyama’s glare even now.

His voice was extremely scary too, like yesterday. It was low and forceful as if he would throw Tadashi out of the window if he didn’t answer correctly.

He felt compelled to nod and agree to anything to escape any angry outbursts.

“Yamaguchi, hey.”

“Sorry!” He looked up, saw the deep scowl on Kageyama’s face, and quickly evaded his gaze. “Do you want my notes?”

Kageyama grunted and snatched his notes as soon as he offered them. He could hear the other groups talking animatedly around them, most of them excited to have the chance to get to know their classmates and write their first essay. It wasn’t a hard assignment, after all. It was meant as an exercise to assess their level in writing narrative and descriptive essays.

The hardest part was the ‘getting to know each other’ part. The hardest part was talking to their partners and getting the personal information that would be the basis of their essays.

It was exciting for the majority of the class.

Tadashi only dreaded it.

When he looked at Kageyama again, he almost felt faint with fear. It could be his imagination, but Kageyama’s smirk looked like it was calling for evil spirits. The air felt colder. Tadashi could feel darkness closing in on them.

Rather than a bully, isn’t this boy a vessel for evil?!

 

They agreed to meet after biology the next day, since they both had their lunch break then. Kageyama _remembered_ they were classmates. His smirk looked even more sinister when he mentioned Bio 1, actually. He might be planning to murder Tadashi and sell his organs? Or use him as sacrifice for a ritual for Satan? That look meant something evil, for sure.

“You’re over acting,” Tsukki said. “Murder Eyes probably won’t sell your organs.”

“But he’ll _murder me_?!”

“Well, the way you talk about him…”

“You’re not helping!”

“I’ve never been a helpful type of person.” Tsukki shrugged, unrepentant.

“I’m texting Hitoka-chan right now. She’ll get all my DVDs and games when I die. You don’t get anything.”

“How sad.” He didn’t sound sad about it at all. Tsukki was the most unhelpful best friend ever. Why didn’t Tadashi go to _Hitoka’s_ school? If he had, he wouldn’t even have this problem!

“When he kills me, I’ll haunt you forever,” Tadashi threatened.

Putting his arm around Tadashi’s shoulders and dragging him closer, Tsukki said, “He won’t kill you. I can go to lunch with you if you want?”

Tsukki was often unhelpful when it came to emotional problems, but when it mattered, he really tried. That’s why Tadashi loved him a lot. “Thanks. But I want you to survive so you could call the police on him.”

“I don’t even know who he is,” Tsukki said.

“You’ll _know_ ,” Tadashi insisted. “But never look him in the eyes, okay? Don’t look him directly. Use a mirror.”

“This isn’t Harry Potter. You can tell me his name.”

“He’s _Murder Eyes_! He’ll steal your soul!”

“You’re _over acting_ ,” Tsukki repeated exasperatedly. He sounded fond, though, so Tadashi could still be annoying about this all he liked.

 

Biology passed by in a blur, and the class was dismissed in no time. A quiet moment passed before Tsukki left as if he was asking _are you sure you want to be alone with that guy?_ and Tadashi nodded with a grimace as if saying _I’m not but please call the police when I don’t contact you in an hour_. Knowing each other so well was a huge help for situations like this. Tsukki would totally avenge his untimely death.

Kageyama didn’t even speak while watching from his seat. He stood up and walked towards the door without any kind of greeting. Tadashi trailed a meter back from him.

The silence was its own brand of terrifying.

When they finally reached the cafeteria, Kageyama stopped beside the entrance and looked around as if it was his first time here. He looked like he wanted to set fire to everything. His eyes were narrowed as he read the menu on the board.

“You eat _here_?” he asked, giving Tadashi a disappointed look.

Tadashi narrowed his eyes right back. This cafeteria was chaotic and looked slightly rundown compared to the more classy ones in the other colleges, but they served the most delicious curry and they had the nicest people too. Yesterday, he got an extra pudding cup from the nice lunch lady. This was his favorite place to hang out when he was overwhelmed by the enormity of the school.

“It’s the best,” Tadashi said. “You’ll see.”

Kageyama eyed the surroundings dubiously.

Sure, the booths looked old and some chairs had faded paint, but it made the place look rustic! The lighting wasn’t ideal, but it added to the homey feel of the place! Kageyama didn’t know how warm this place made Tadashi. He really shouldn’t judge.

In his quiet fuming, he didn’t notice Kageyama taking out his wallet until he heard him say, “Should I pay for both of us?” in that growly scary voice. His tone heavily implied that if he had to, he’d get the money back with interest. Possibly by selling Tadashi’s _soul_ to the _demon_.

“No!” Tadashi exclaimed, raising both hands. “It’s my treat! This place was my idea, after all!”

Kageyama sneered at him again. Tadashi repressed the urge to shiver in fear. “Thanks,” he said. “I appreciate it.”

 

Tadashi proceeded to buy them lunch sets—different ones from his initial choice, because Kageyama insisted that Tadashi _clearly_ needed more nutrients and he should know better since he was a biochemistry student. Tadashi wanted to protest, but he wasn’t ever good at confrontations, and Kageyama’s frown is still one of the scariest expressions he had ever seen in anyone.

They ate in relative silence, the bustle of the cafeteria around them providing background noise. Kageyama seemed intent on finishing his lunch before starting their talk. Tadashi was intent on keeping quiet as long as possible. He chewed slowly and kept his gaze towards the crowd instead of his classmate.

“It’s delicious,” Kageyama said after a while. He stared down at his almost empty plate with a sad expression, like he was disappointed there wasn’t more. “You were right.”

Tadashi couldn’t help but grin proudly. “I told you! They have the best chef, honestly! And this place isn’t as crowded as the other cafeterias so it’s easy to find seats, you know? It’s my favorite place to hang out.”

“So this is where I should go when I want to find you.”

Oh no. That was another terrifying thought. Kageyama’s face was contorted into something sinister again. Damn it. Tadashi shouldn’t have put his guard down.

Now, Kageyama knew where exactly he had to go when he decided he needed Tadashi for that ritualistic sacrifice, after all.

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

Tobio smiled at Yamaguchi, glad that he knew another thing about the other boy. This was already going so well. He must have done something right, because Yamaguchi even offered to treat him. He couldn’t wait to tell Hinata about it. That dumbass didn’t believe he could make a move on his crush today, and yet here Tobio was eating free lunch from his cute crush.

“Uh, where should we start?” Yamaguchi opened his bag and took out his notebook. Tobio moved to do the same. “Full name… Tobio Kageyama. Sports science.” He was muttering to himself rather than making conversation. “You, uh, play volleyball, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Varsity scholarship?”

Tobio nodded as he wrote down what he knew about Yamaguchi too: his full name, his major, how awkward he was in front of the class. _Cute laugh_ , he noted after. If he had to be straightforward, then he had to tell the professor the truth. He had to write down his real thoughts.

“That’s cool. I used to play volleyball, too.”

He perked up at that. “What team?”

“You probably don’t know,” Yamaguchi said, cheeks turning red. “We were bad.”

Tobio frowned in disappointment. He was hoping to talk about volleyball more, but if Yamaguchi was bad at it, he'd drop the topic. He didn’t want to say anything that might offend the other boy. He knew other players envied his skills and felt resentment towards his team. He didn’t want Yamaguchi to feel worse about his volleyball skills. He didn't want Yamaguchi to hate him.

“Anyway! What position do you play? What team did you play for? It sounds like a good centerpiece for an essay.”

“Setter. Jou High.”

Yamaguchi’s eyes widened. “Jou High…?”

He nodded.

“You won Nationals last year!”

Another nod.

“Oh! Wait. You’re _the King_!”

Tobio couldn’t stop the instinctual growl at the nickname. It was an _insult_ , and he hated the media for using the term, when it was a proof of his weakness rather than his strengths.

Yamaguchi paled. “S-sorry! I didn’t mean to be— Sorry!”

“It’s fine.” He was the one in the wrong for reacting so badly to a simple word. He needed to have better control of his temper.

“Do you, uh, want to ask the questions? I feel like I’m the only one getting something from this.”

He stared down at his notebook, thinking about what he wanted to know. His mind was blanking. He wanted to know so much, but he didn’t know where to start. He usually only talked about volleyball with people. Most of his friends were players, after all.

Ah. Captain Bokuto asked them a lot of questions during their orientation. He could use those.

“What’s your dream?”

Yamaguchi blinked, seemingly stunned. “Wow,” he said. “Going deep already, huh?” He hummed thoughtfully for a few seconds, tapping his pen on the table. “Well, uh. Hm. I guess it’s to be a doctor? That’s what I’m studying for. I’ve always liked helping out and fixing injuries, and I like…” His voice went soft and quiet as he added, “I like being needed? I guess?” His blush made a comeback, even more prominent than before.

Tobio had the inexplicable urge to touch his cheeks.

“What about you?”

That was an easy question. And a good distraction from his irrational need to reach out. “I want to win in the world stage and be at the top.”

“So you’re planning to play volleyball as long as you can?”

“Of course.” _What else was there to do?_

“How young were you when you decided that?”

Tobio squinted down at his notebook as he pondered the question. He had been playing volleyball for as long as he could remember. He didn’t have many childhood memories that didn’t involve a volleyball in his hands.

When he didn’t reply for a minute or so, Yamaguchi laughed and asked, “What, were you born with a volleyball in hand?”

His dad used to say that as a joke before. Tobio nodded and shrugged, because that felt close enough to the truth.

“Oh. Ah. That’s… cool. I’ve only recently decided I wanted to be a doctor, honestly. I used to want to become an astronaut.”

“Because of the stars on your face?” Yamaguchi’s freckles made up constellations Tobio wanted to map if given a chance.

“What?”

“Your freckles. They’re like stars.”

Yamaguchi looked away, jaw clenching in an emotion Tobio couldn’t figure out. “Sure. Right.”

After that, they asked each other generic questions for a few more minutes before Yamaguchi looked down at his phone and said ‘Tsukki’ was calling for him. They separated ways with a simple wave of goodbye.

 

“Woah! No!” Hinata leaped in front of him and poked at his cheeks repeatedly. “How many times have I told you not to _smile_?!”

Tobio frowned and pushed him away. “What?”

“You look like a serial killer.”

“I don’t!”

“That’s what a serial killer would say!”

“I _don’t!_ Shut up, dumbass. You’re wrong.” He crossed his arms and looked down on Hinata haughtily, knowing he won this time around. “I talked to him today.”

“Who? Oh! Your crush?” Hinata immediately lit up in excitement. “I’m so proud of you! You’re becoming a real boy!”

Tobio grimaced at his words. “I’m real.”

“Sure, sure. So what did you talk about?” Hinata grinned. “Was it volleyball?”

“A bit. And about our dreams.”

Hinata started bouncing on his heels. “Nice! That’s great! Did you compliment him? I told you to compliment him!”

“I did,” Tobio said, feeling triumphant. When Hinata gave him that advice, it felt like a challenge Hinata thought he couldn’t do. This would show him. “I told him his freckles were beautiful.”

“Aaah!!!” Hinata pulled his hand and dragged him towards the gym, smiling widely. “Let’s tell Akaashi-senpai and Bokuto-senpai the good news!”

“Oi! Don’t tell the captain—”

“Too late! I’m telling them!”

“Come back here, Hinata!”

ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌ ┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

It felt like there was a tiny thundercloud following him around as he walked to his Chem 1 class. The world looked darker and colder than it was yesterday. When he closed his eyes, he could still see Kageyama’s awful smirk and that dark aura trying to suck the life out of Tadashi. Maybe the boy had put a curse on him on top of making him feel like shit and reminding him about his insecurities.

“Yamaguchi! Hey!”

He looked up to see Tsukki and Hinata walking towards him, the former with a concerned frown and the latter with wide curious eyes.

“Hey,” he said without energy.

“What’s wrong?” Hinata peeked at his expression, moving closer than was socially acceptable. Tadashi was used to it. “You look like someone stole your food.”

“At least he’s alive,” Tsukki said.

“Was Yamaguchi in danger?! Why didn’t we help him?!”

Tsukki placed a hand on his boyfriend’s arm, stopping his outburst in a practiced way. “Didn’t I tell you about Murder Eyes?”

Hinata narrowed his eyes at Tsukki, and then at Yamaguchi. “Murder Eyes?”

“It’s like with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Yamaguchi doesn’t use his real name because using his real name might invoke his evil spirit,” Tsukki explained with a smirk that showed how much he enjoyed Tadashi’s suffering and his boyfriend’s gullibility.

“Evil spirit?!” Hinata gasped. “Yamaguchi! Do you need an exorcism?”

Tadashi shook his head and sighed. “I’m fine. Just tired.”

Tsukki’s expresion melted back into worry. He knew that Tadashi not going along with the joke meant he felt worse than he looked.

“Really,” Tadashi insisted. “Yesterday was just a lot.”

“Did he do anything?” It had been a while since Tadashi last heard Tsukki’s voice go that low and chilling. Even Hinata stopped and stared at his boyfriend instead of asking more questions.

“Nothing,” he said. “It went better than I expected, actually.”

“You wouldn’t look like that if it did.”

“I’m still alive, right?”

“Yamaguchi.”

“I’m _fine_.” Kageyama simply pointed out his freckles and made him think about his classmates teasing him about the stars on his face. Tadashi’s classmates used every reference in the book: how he looked like the moon, how they could tell their fortune using his face or how comets struck him. Some of them told him he must have been partially burned as a child. They told him how _ugly_ it was, every single day.

“Do you want me to beat him up?” Hinata asked earnestly.

Tadashi finally found it in himself to smile. Hinata’s presence had that effect on people. It was why Tsukki was so much softer now than he was back in middle school. “I’ll call you when I decide to beat him up.”

“That’s the spirit!”

 

With Tadashi’s honed talent for evading bullies, he was able to go through most of the week without having to interact with Kageyama again. He had everything he needed for the short one-page essay they needed to write, and Kageyama confirmed that he had, too. There was no need for any additional contact, no matter how many times Kageyama glared at him in the hallway or in class.

He forced himself to ignore the glares, and after a while, it became easier.

Kageyama did not approach him the rest of the week. He didn’t even talk to Tadashi before they passed their first essay a week later.

He forgot all about their awful lunch.

 

That was, until Saeko-sensei gave back their graded papers, calling them one by one so she could give them advice and critique.

“Grammar-wise, almost flawless,” she said, handing him his essay when he walked to her table. “As for your content, it was good to have a central topic, but it almost felt like a sports profile rather than a description of your classmate. It was interesting, but…” She smiled, looking down at the other papers. “Well, you did a great job but make sure to look at a topic from different angles next time.”

He got an A minus. It was high enough that he had no worries, though he did take note of what she said so he could get a higher grade next time.

Saeko-sensei called Kageyama next.

From his seat, Tadashi could not hear what Saeko was saying but he could see her smile growing sharper and more teasing. She laughed while she handed Kageyama’s paper over, pointing at one part of the essay and then poking him on the arm. The tips of Kageyama’s ears turned red.

Tadashi could not look away.

He saw, clear as day, the way Kageyama looked down at the essay and smiled. Not his Murder Smirk, no. It was a soft smile, seeming almost unconscious. He looked _fond_.

It was weird.

The weirder part was when he turned back to walk towards his seat with a triumphant look on his face. It was a familiar expression. It was the smile Tadashi saw from candid shots of the Nationals from sports magazines. It was Kageyama’s ‘ _I got my team 3 consecutive service ace points’_ smirk. No wonder he didn't recognize him before. This was the kind of expression he had during games, not that constipated angry expression he always wore.

It was weird how attractive this was in person.

Tadashi looked down at his desk, shaking his head repeatedly to get the image out of his head.

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

Despite Hinata’s initial interest, he easily gave up on teasing Tobio when he realized there was nothing else to talk about. Tobio finished the pair essay and that was that. He still was not good at approaching people outside of volleyball and he still was awful at small talk. There was no way he could approach Yamaguchi again. He had no reason to.

It was more than a month later, while taking a break from practice, when Hinata brought it up again.

“Kei would hate it, but Bokuto-senpai wants to, you know? Captain just wants to help! But Kei doesn’t like places like that…” Hinata’s eyes widened and he leaned towards Tobio with a huge grin. “What if _you_ go?”

Tobio frowned. “With Kei?” Why would he go with Hinata’s girlfriend?

“No! With your crush! You said you don’t know what to talk about, right? You could ask them out!”

“What? No.”

“But Kageyama!”

Before Tobio could say anything to deter him, Bokuto popped in at their side and looked at them with an overly-excited expression. He sat on Tobio’s other side and placed an arm around his shoulders. Akaashi was walking towards them, watching Bokuto warily.

“Kageyama-kun~” Bokuto’s smile was so bright, Tobio had the urge to close his eyes. “Are you going to ask your crush out?”

“No, Captain.”

“Why not?”

Because.

Because Tobio could only talk about volleyball with people, and Yamaguchi doesn’t play volleyball anymore. Because he’s focusing on improving his float serves to add variety to his serves. Because there was no reason to bother him. Because watching Yamaguchi from afar is enough.

“If you change your mind, you can use this!” Bokuto pulled out two coupons out of nowhere. “It’s a treat from your best senpai!”

“You’re so cool, captain!” Hinata exclaimed. Tobio silently agreed.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing.”

“Thank you,” Tobio said, because he didn’t know what else to say. He accepted the coupon and put it in his pocket without looking it over. It was the polite thing to do.

“You’ll use it?!”

Akaashi finally reached them, grabbing Bokuto’s arm to drag him up even as the captain squirmed. “Don’t mess with other people’s business,” he scolded.

“But Akaashi! Our cute kohai needs a push!”

“He can handle himself just fine. You trust them, don’t you?”

“That’s unfair! Of course I trust them!”

“Then let them handle it on their own. Come on, Bokuto-san. You should show the other newbies how to spike properly.”

“Oh!” Bokuto brightened up. “Okay! I’ll show them the perfect technique!”

“Yes, yes. Go do that, Bokuto-san.” Akaashi waited until Bokuto was out of earshot before turning towards them again. “You have my number, so call me if you need anything, okay?” He nodded once before running after Bokuto.

Tobio sighed. “Akaashi-san is so cool.”

Hinata nodded enthusiastically in agreement. “They both are. You should use that coupon. Captain would ask about it, and you don’t want to disappoint him, right?”

He didn’t. Ever since meeting the two, he had only wanted to make them proud and make them like him. He wanted to train with them and show them that he was worthy to be in the same team as them, to be their kohai.

“You know, that has an expiration date. Mine’s about to expire so I really need to convince Kei to come soon. Oh! Should we go together? Ask your crush!”

“No.” That sounded like a horrible idea.

“Stingy,” Hinata said, pouting. “Fine! Be that way!” He ran back to the court and ignored Tobio for the next few minutes.

(That was, until Tobio took a ball and tossed it over to Hinata, who expertly sent it flying to the other side of the court.)

 

Tobio wanted to wait for the right timing. On the court, there was always that hint before an attack of where the ball could go. There were tells people had. He wanted to do it when Yamaguchi was most willing to talk.

But then.

Yamaguchi came into their Bio 1 class wearing a _ponytail_. It was a refreshing look that showed off his freckles more. His slender nape was in full view. When he smiled, there wasn’t anything hiding his cute face, and all the changes in his expressions could be seen clearly from Tobio’s seat.

It was bad.

It was really bad.

“Yamaguchi.” He called out before he even knew what he was doing. When Yamaguchi looked at him in question, he added, “You’re wearing a ponytail.”

“Ah!” Yamaguchi’s eyes widened. “Sorry!” He plucked the hair tie off, sending his hair cascading down messily. “I had a lab class so… uh. Sorry.”

“I wasn’t—” He didn’t want this! He _liked_ the ponytail.

Though...

It was probably bad for his heart, too. Maybe this was safer.

“What?”

“No, nothing. This is better,” Tobio muttered, sitting back properly away from Yamaguchi.

“Oh. Uh. Cool.” Yamaguchi blushed and hunched in on himself, taking out his notebook and scribbling on it.

For the rest of the class, Tobio couldn’t take his eyes off Yamaguchi’s back.

ヽ(#ﾟДﾟ)ﾉ┌ ┛Σ(ノ´Д`)ノ

Tadashi wasn’t sure why he agreed when Kageyama stopped him outside their Bio 1 class and thrusted a buffet coupon at him. Especially after Kageyama insulted him at the start of the class. Maybe it was because of shock. Maybe it was the pent-up fear. Maybe it was an instinctual response and a self-preservation tactic.

The whys are not important now, anyway.

He was already standing inside the lounge of a huge fancy restaurant, being told to pose lovey-dovey style with his _boyfriend_ , so they could post their picture in the bulletin board. A closer inspection of their coupon revealed that it was a _couple’s coupon_. They would avail a 50% discount as soon as they took the picture.

At least this explained _why_ Kageyama asked him to come here.

He had never seen Kageyama around anyone before, so he must not have any friends to ask. Everyone else was too scared to talk to him. Tadashi was already forced to cooperate with him in a project once, therefore he was an easy target.

It made some sort of twisted sense.

Kageyama looked constipated as usual, so Tadashi nudged him lightly on the arm to get his attention. The faster they could get inside, the faster they could finish, and the faster Tadashi could escape this.

“You really want to use that coupon?” he asked.

“Yes.” Decisive. Not even a single second of wavering. He wanted this no matter what, then.

“Alright,” Tadashi sighed. “Don’t punch me,” he added in a whisper.

“Why would I—”

Tadashi looped their arms together and made half of a heart with his hand. “Come on, Kageyama-kun. Just do it like in those pictures.”

The way Kageyama’s eyes widened was so comical that Tadashi forgot his fear for a moment. He could not help but huff out a laugh. That seemed to spur Kageyama into movement, though his face remained slack with shock. He mirrored Tadashi’s pose and looked at the camera.

The camera man grinned at them and took the picture.

When the polaroid was done, they both moved forward to look at where it was pinned on the board. Tadashi was smiling on the picture, and Kageyama was red to the tips of his ears.

Huh.

Weird.

It was the same embarrassed expression he showed Saeko-sensei that time. It made his face softer, made him marginally less scary. Blushing like that, he looked like someone Tadashi could eat lunch with and befriend.

 

The inside of the restaurant answered another of Tadashi’s questions. The place was huge and various delicious aroma wafted through the air. At the very end of the hall was a long table filled with food. There were plates on trolleys beside that. In the middle of the room was a dessert section with a chocolate fountain.

It was a gigantic buffet. And they only had to pay for one person.

Tadashi would consider pretending to date Hitoka and bringing her here if he could.

“Let’s find a seat,” Kageyama said, putting a hand on Tadashi's lower back and ushering him to the table closest to the meat section. “Do you want to choose together or separately?”

“Separately, please.”

Kageyama nodded. “Eat whatever you like,” he said. “It’s my treat. As thank you for last time.”

 

Oh.

Wait, _what_?

 

Tadashi spent the next hour in a trance.

Kageyama was treating him in this place filled with good unlimited food because Tadashi paid for their lunch _last month_?

This didn’t match up with any of Tadashi’s earlier conclusions. This didn’t make any sense at all! Why would Kageyama want to treat him to this place? Why would he choose to do it _now_? Tadashi had been so sure this was another chance for Kageyama to make him pay, to bully him into something.

Mind filled with more questions, he picked his food mechanically.

Like last time, Kageyama let the silence grow as they ate. He never initiated conversation and simply focused on finishing the gigantic pile of food he took from the buffet.

He glanced up every now and then, though, as if expecting Tadashi to say something.

It took Tadashi until he was halfway through his plate to speak. He was confused, but he was also curious. If Kageyama would not say anything, then Tadashi ought to ask some questions.

“This is your treat?”

Kageyama nodded.

“Why?”

“As thank you for treating me.”

“That was ages ago! You don’t have to.”

Kageyama shrugged, like this was nothing. Like it was normal to randomly treat someone after a whole month of glaring.

He had to change tactics. This was getting him nowhere.

“So,” he said, thinking of the last time they ate like this, “how did you do in your essay? I got an A minus. Pretty good, right?”

“I got an A plus. I’ve never gotten a grade that good before.” Kageyama looked proud of himself. It was another weird expression on his usually angry face. He looked _younger_ and less like a follower of Satan.

“Oh! Nice one. Congrats.”

“My senpai from the dorms looked through it for me,” he said, and this time there was that fond expression again, the one Tadashi saw when Saeko-sensei was teasing him. “He fixed my grammar mistakes. I wanted it to be perfect.”

“Really wanted a good grade on that one, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“What was your angle? Saeko-sensei told me mine was too much like a sports profile.” He was really curious now. He never thought about it, but Kageyama wrote a piece _about him_ , didn’t he? And he got an A plus on it. What could Kageyama have written that was better than Tadashi’s?

Kageyama blinked in confusion. “What?”

“Your angle. Your… central point? Which part of me did you focus on?”

“Ah.” Kageyama squinted down at his plate. “Saeko-sensei said my central point was about never knowing enough.”

“...What?”

“She said the essay showed enough for the reader to be curious about you, and that curiosity was the main point. I don’t understand her. I just wrote what I was thinking. It wasn’t anything deep.” He paused. “I wanted to know more about you, that’s all.”

Tadashi could do nothing but gape.

Kageyama didn’t say anything else. He went back to eating as if nothing had changed, as if his words did not just blow Tadashi’s mind.

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

“Your crush ain’t coming to cheer for us?” Bokuto stopped in front of him, pouting like a puppy. “Didn’t the coupon work? It worked with Akaashi!”

Akaashi sighed heavily and put a hand on Bokuto’s shoulder. “Bokuto-san, it wasn’t because of the coupon that I agreed to go out with you.”

“What! Akaashi!”

Ignoring Bokuto’s betrayed response, Akaashi turned towards Tobio. “You okay?”

“I’m done warming up, senpai.”

“Okay. Be ready. Coach will probably put you in the last set.”

“Thank you.” Tobio bowed deeply. “For talking to coach.”

“You and Hinata are good. You deserve the chance to prove yourself.”

With that, Akaashi dragged a protesting Bokuto away towards the stadium.

 

He thought that was the end of it but Akaashi approached him after the match, while everyone was busy looking at the restaurant menu for their celebratory dinner. He sat beside Tobio and spoke quietly so as not to be noticed by the others.

“I was serious, you know, when I said you could call me if you need anything.”

“If it’s not about volleyball, I don’t think—”

“Kageyama-kun,” Akaashi said, “you can call me about _anything_. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

Akaashi really was the coolest. Tobio was lucky to have him as his senpai.

“I used the coupon.”

“And then?”

“We ate out, but he left as soon as he finished his plate. He said ‘Tsukki’ was calling for him. That’s what he said last time, too.”

“Who’s Tsukki?”

Tobio shrugged. “I heard him say that guy will get angry if he found out Yamaguchi went with me.”

“Oh.” Akaashi’s expression turned thoughtful. “Was that… Do you think this Yamaguchi has a boyfriend?”

He never even considered that. Hinata mentioned his girlfriend every conversation, and Bokuto mentioned Akaashi almost as much. Tobio had always been surrounded by people who broadcasted their love for their partners.

The thought of Yamaguchi having a boyfriend made his stomach ache.

It would explain a lot, though. Yamaguchi and that boy in Bio 1 looked closer than anyone Kageyama knew, and they could communicate without words. That was a trait couples had, right? Akaashi did know a lot of Bokuto’s thoughts before Bokuto even opened his mouth.

“I lost my appetite,” Tobio groaned.

“You have to eat,” Akaashi said gently. “We’ll figure it out, okay? Let’s shift gears. We’re celebrating so just think about our win for now. You did great today.”

Tobio was an expert at shifting gears. He nodded and pushed the uncomfortable feeling down. The team was here to celebrate, so that was what he would do.

He could think about other things later.

Σ（￣□￣；）Σ（￣□￣；）Σ（￣□￣；）

Because of the varsity matches, Kageyama missed quite a few classes and slept through most of the others. He seemed tired all the time. Tadashi could only watch as he dragged himself from his seat in their Bio 1 classroom and walked to the hallway, eyes still closed.

Tsukki stopped packing up his things and looked at him. “Hey, you okay?”

“Ah, yeah. I’ll just— I’ll go on ahead? I’m hungry.” A lie. Tsukki could probably see through it.

Instead of pointing that out, Tsukki huffed and let him go, waving him off without another glance.

Tadashi ran towards the hallway and looked around for Kageyama.

 

“Are you okay?”

Tadashi stopped in front of Kageyama and held out both hands to stop him from walking any further. His eyes were half-lidded. He didn’t look as bad as Tadashi imagined but he was definitely still half asleep.

Kageyama moaned in response, yawning. “Professor Iwamoto talked a lot,” he said, rubbing his eyes. “I fell asleep.”

“So it’s just because biology is boring. Not because of varsity?”

“What?” Kageyama seemed more awake now. He looked confused, though. “I’m fine. Biology is boring.”

“Ah.” Tadashi was worrying for nothing, then. Ugh. He’d gotten too aware of Kageyama lately. He found himself watching the other boy without conscious thought most of the time.

“Do you want to eat lunch together?” And now, his mouth was speaking without his mind’s consent, dammit.

Kageyama blinked at him. “What?”

“You can photocopy my notes after we eat. You haven’t been taking any, right? You were absent last time, too.” Might as well go all out, he guessed. Tadashi liked being helpful, after all. This was him helping out a classmate, because that was the right thing to do. No ulterior motives here, nope.

“Oh. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

 

This time, surprisingly, Kageyama was the one who initiated a conversation while they were eating. As soon as they were seated, he opened his bag and rummaged through it. He took out a volleyball keychain and placed it between them on the table.

“Here,” he said. “I bought this for you.”

 _Why_.

Tadashi picked it up and studied the keychain. It was the mascot for the tournament: a yellow, white and blue volleyball with cartoon eyes and a large toothy grin. Despite the weirdness, it actually was kind of cute. He liked it.

“Thanks,” he said, after a long awkward silence. “You didn’t have to.”

Kageyama shrugged. “You said you used to play volleyball.”

“I still play, but just in our neighborhood.”

Frowning, Kageyama asked, “Neighborhood?” as if the concept was new to him.

“Yeah! Since I’m busy with college, I join the neighborhood association in their practice matches when I go back home. We meet up a few times a month, when we’re not busy.”

“Oh.”

“It’s not like the Nationals or anything, but it’s fun. I’m glad I still get to play with my friends.”

Kageyama nodded enthusiastically. “I get that.”

Tadashi smiled. “I miss playing. I haven’t been home in two weeks, since I’ve been so busy with school.”

“You should—” Kageyama stopped, then squinted at the air like he was thinking about what to say. “I can’t invite you to play with us.”

“I wasn’t asking,” Tadashi said, squinting back at him. “I have other friends who play volleyball.”

“Other— Are _we_ friends?” Kageyama's eyes went wide.

That was… a really good question. Tadashi had spent weeks thinking Kageyama hated his guts and was planning to sacrifice his soul to the demon, but that one lunch really challenged that notion.

“I guess?” Tadashi said, unsure. “Do you want to be friends?”

Kageyama nodded again, even more enthusiastically this time. “Yes.”

“Oh. Okay. Then we’re friends.”

 

He didn’t notice Hitoka until she was inches away from his face, waving her hands and calling out his name. He was that distracted. He didn’t even notice her arrive in his room, nor did he notice when she sat beside him on the bed. Tsukki followed after her, putting down their bags on the floor.

“He’s been like that since lunch,” Tsukki said, eyes narrowed. “He was chasing after— _Who_ were you chasing?”

“Murder Eyes,” Tadashi muttered. Immediately feeling guilty, he corrected, “I mean, Kageyama?”

Tsukki froze. “Murder Eyes is named _Kageyama_?”

“Yeah. I’ve told you before, haven’t I?”

“No. You were so scared of saying his name, you never told us.”

“He’s in our Bio 1 class. Kageyama Tobio.”

“The King?” Tsukki looked incredulously at Tadashi. “Murder Eyes is _The King_?

“I really didn’t tell you?” Tadashi must have internalized all his annoyance and never let Tsukki hear it.

“You didn’t.” Tsukki sighed heavily. “Kageyama Tobio is _Shouyou’s best friend_.”

Tadashi stared. “What? But Kenma’s his best friend!”

“Kenma’s his best friend too, but Kageyama’s his…” He grimaced. “Volleyball soulmate, or something. I forgot what he called that guy.”

“Wait,” Hitoka said, watching them with narrowed eyes. “Is this the mean guy you did an essay on?”

Tadashi looked down and fidgeted with his blanket. “I’m not actually sure what he is.”

“What?”

“He gave me a souvenir from their tournament, and he paid for our lunch earlier. That’s not something mean people do.”

Hitoka placed a gentle hand on his, peering at his expression with a small smile. “Is that why you’re so out of it? Because he was being nice to you?”

“He could just be lulling you into a false sense of security so he could sell your soul?” Tsukki offered.

“You just said he was Hinata’s best friend!”

“I never said Shouyou has great taste in people,” Tsukki said with an indifferent shrug.

“Tsukki!” Tadashi groaned. “Not helping.”

Hitoka slapped at Tsukki’s side without looking, then scooted closer to Tadashi until their sides were pressed together. “You said he gave you a gift? Can I see?”

Tadashi pointed towards the keychain on the side-table. It was where he dropped it as soon as he arrived in his dorm room earlier. He had refused to look at it this whole time. The smiling face on the volleyball felt like it was mocking him.

“That’s so cute,” Hitoka cooed, picking it up.

“Shouyou didn’t even buy me anything,” Tsukki said. “Did Kageyama explain why he bought you a gift?”

“He said it’s because I used to play volleyball,” Tadashi said. Saying that made the rest of that conversation replay in his head. He groaned and hid his face in his hands, thinking about how awkward he was. “I told him we were friends.”

Hitoka wrapped an arm loosely around him. “Are you?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “Just a week ago, I was convinced he was a follower of Satan who wanted to _murder me_.”

“And sell your soul, plus your organs,” Tsukki added helpfully. He looked amused. “Did that keychain really change your mind that much?”

Tadashi shook his head. “It’s not just the keychain,” he said. “We had lunch a few weeks ago, too.”

Tsukki and Hitoka stared at him with twin looks of suspicion.

He had no other choice but to tell them everything, from the start. He had only complained about Kageyama vaguely before, and never gave them much detail. This time, he’d tell them all of his thoughts.

With their help, he might finally understand what was going on inside Kageyama’s head.

♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

By the time they were halfway through the semester, Tobio had developed a lunch routine with Yamaguchi. They would walk out of biology together after Yamaguchi talked to his Tsukki, and they would get a booth at their favorite cafeteria. Sometimes, they paid separately, but more often, one would treat the other.

It felt nice. Tobio’s stomach still ached whenever Yamaguchi talked to his Tsukki, but it was nice to be considered Yamaguchi’s friend. Even if he didn’t have a chance to be anything more, Tobio was glad to have front-row seats to Yamaguchi’s laughter and the way he tried to hide his blush when he was embarrassed.

It wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but it was enough.

 

“Hey, do you want to be my partner?”

Tobio yawned and looked up to see Yamaguchi smiling at him in amusement.

“You weren’t listening at all, were you?”

Tobio shook his head. “That guy’s not our professor.”

Yamaguchi laughed. “He’s our TA. Saeko-sensei sent him to give us our midterm project. He said we should choose our partners. We have the rest of the period to discuss our plan.”

“You want to be my partner?”

“Yeah. Of course. You’re the only real friend I have in this class.”

Warmth bloomed in Tobio’s chest. It felt good to hear that.

“Here are the instructions,” Yamaguchi said, handing his notes over, oblivious to Tobio’s euphoric mood. “We’re supposed to make a powerpoint presentation on something we both like. Five to seven minutes. We have to entice the audience to like our thing, too.”

Tobio was too busy staring at Yamaguchi’s thoughtful expression to digest anything he was saying.

“So, are we gonna do volleyball?” Yamaguchi asked. His smile quirked into a teasing one, his eyes glinting mischievously. “Don’t you have anything else you really like right now?”

 _You_ , he thought.

“How about it, Kageyama-kun? Do you like anything else as much as you like volleyball?”

“You,” he said, because it was all he could think about. And being straightforward and honest was important. “I like you.”

Yamaguchi’s eyebrows raised up in surprise. But after a few seconds of stunned silence, he laughed. “That doesn’t really work. I don’t like myself much, so.”

Tobio frowned. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“You said you don’t like yourself,” Tobio said, narrowing his eyes.

“Well,” Yamaguchi said slowly, “I’m pretty average, to say the least, and you’re obliged to say you like me because you’re my friend. There’s not much to like, really.”

He said it all factually, as if it made any kind of sense.

“How can you say that?” Tobio is _offended_. “Have you seen your face? It’s not _average_.”

Yamaguchi frowned. “Are you calling me ugly? Because I’ve heard that already. No need to rub it in. Also it’s rude to say that to a friend, you know? Even if it’s true.”

Tobio gaped at him. Who told Yamaguchi he was ugly? Were they blind?! “You’re not ugly,” he growled lowly, unable to hide the anger in his voice. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met.” And he’s met Akaashi Keiji, so his standards were high.

“...What?” Yamaguchi froze, and his whole face turned red. He stared wide-eyed at Tobio.

“Whoever said that was lying to you,” Tobio said with a frown. “You’re beautiful. And cute. And smart.” He wondered why Yamaguchi didn’t know this. “Doesn’t your Tsukki tell you that?”

“My… Tsukki isn’t known for throwing out compliments.” Yamaguchi’s voice was faint. He was still staring at Tobio.

“He’s a bad boyfriend, then,” Tobio said spitefully. If he couldn’t take care of Yamaguchi, then he wasn’t worth Yamaguchi’s time. Yamaguchi deserved someone who would treasure him; who would tell him he was beautiful and awesome every single day. “You should break up with him.”

“He’s not a bad—” Yamaguchi paused, then leaned forward as if he wanted to see Tobio more clearly. “Are you serious? I’m not dating Tsukki.”

“What?”

“He’s dating _your best friend_.”

“My best friend has a girlfriend,” Tobio protested. “Her name is Kei.”

“Oh my god,” Yamaguchi said, groaning and looking up at the ceiling like he was asking for heavenly support. “Tsukki is Tsukishima Kei, Hinata’s _boy_ friend.”

“What.”

Tobio was suddenly reminded of all the times Hinata mentioned going to camp with his Kei and how Kei blocked Ushijima Wakatoshi once. He thought for sure that was a practice game or a co-ed camp, but now he understood it was a real match.

Because Kei was Hinata’s boyfriend, and they both played in Men’s Volleyball Tournaments.

How did Tobio miss that?

“This whole conversation is fake,” Yamaguchi muttered. “This is a dream. I knew it. Kageyama calling me beautiful is too out there. I need to just—” He pinched himself and moaned in pain. “Ouch.”

“I wasn’t lying,” Tobio said, because it felt like they went too off course there. He needed Yamaguchi to understand this. He needed Yamaguchi to see what Tobio sees. “You’re beautiful.”

The earlier blush came back in full force, even darker now. “Stop _saying_ that.”

“It’s the truth.”

Yamaguchi went quiet, looking down on his feet for a whole minute before he looked at Tobio again. “So when you said you liked me…”

“It was also the truth.”

“No, I mean— You like me, like… You like me like you want to date me?” Yamaguchi whispered it, as if almost afraid to say it out loud.

Tobio nodded. “I said I wanted to know more about you, didn’t I?”

“Oh.” Yamaguchi stood up. “I need to go. I’ll. Uh. I’ll text you, okay? I’ll just. Bye!”

Tobio watched as he ran away to the door.

Σ（￣□￣；）Σ（￣□￣；）Σ（￣□￣；）

Hitoka ran towards them as soon as she saw them sitting on the grass in the courtyard. She plopped down in front of Tadashi, looking him up and down as if searching for injuries. Tsukki didn’t let his hold on Yamaguchi’s shoulders go, even tightening his hold as if to remind Yamaguchi they were both there for him.

“Do you think it’s some kind of prank?” he asked his friends weakly. “Because it doesn’t make sense to me.”

“What doesn’t make sense, honey?” Hitoka only used endearments when she wanted to be really gentle and understanding. He must look really bad.

“He said he likes me.” He was talking more to the ground than to her. “He looked me in the eyes and told me I was _beautiful_. Who does that?”

“It sounds like he really likes you?”

“Why, though?”

Tsukki gathered him closer, and Hitoka leaned forward to wrap her arms around both of them. Nestled between them, it was easier to breathe. Tsukki and Hitoka’s love for him has been proven through years of friendship. He loved them just as much.

“You are beautiful,” Hitoka whispered. “And you’re nice and smart and _kind_. Why wouldn’t he like you?”

“I don’t— I don’t understand.”

“You don’t have to yet,” she said. “But you have to accept the fact that people see so much good in you. Babe, if I weren’t gay, I’d date you.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Thanks, Hitoka-chan.”

She slapped at Tsukki’s arm and gave him a significant look.

With a huff, Tsukki flatly said, “I, too, would date you if I weren’t already dating someone.”

“Thanks, Tsukki.”

“Kageyama sounds like a straightforward person, from Shouyou’s stories,” Tsukki added. “He doesn’t sound like someone who would lie or prank someone for no reason.”

“Yeah,” Tadashi sighed. “I don’t think he’s mean at all. I may have… misunderstood a lot of things.”

Tsukki let go of him but bumped his side companionably. “Hey, to be fair, he does have a resting murder face.”

Tadashi laughed. “He does!”

 

With their midterms grade on the line, Tadashi had no time to hide away in his room and over analyze every interaction he ever had with Kageyama. They had a project to do. Kageyama was acting like normal anyway, as if his confession meant nothing. Tadashi surely could do the same.

Their topic, as expected, was volleyball.

Kageyama wanted to do a two-fold presentation, though. He wanted Tadashi to talk about the way he played volleyball with his friends and the neighborhood association, how they played as a way to connect with old friends and make new ones. The way he said _you should talk about your games too_ sounded so close to how he said _I want to know more about you_ that Tadashi had to look away to hide his blush.

Kageyama’s eyes were a different kind of terrifying when he wasn’t glaring.

He was intense and passionate, and really attractive.

Tadashi wasn’t sure what to do.

 

He thought about Kageyama’s words, constantly. _You’re beautiful_ echoed in his head and made him feel all warm at random moments. When dark thoughts crept in, he heard, _it’s the truth_ like a beacon of light.

He still did not understand it, but maybe he wanted to accept it.

Maybe he wanted to believe that someone thought those things about him.

 

It took him one week to decide on a course of action.

He wasn’t going to do anything initially, seeing as Kageyama had done his confession and promptly seemed to forget it, but then Tadashi saw Kageyama’s side of the presentation.

They each did one-half of the powerpoint. Tadashi already knew what kind of content would be in Kageyama’s slides, but he did not expect to see a video of him doing a float serve in one of his practice matches in high school. It was a memorable moment, because it was the first time he got them consecutive points through his serve. It was one of his proudest moments.

Tsukki must have sent it, then. That traitor.

“It isn’t always about strength,” Kageyama was saying. “Technique is just as important, if not more. What Yamaguchi did in that clip was a float serve, and it’s one of the most difficult serves to learn.” He glanced at Tadashi before turning back to the class. He had a softer expression than before. “Every person can find their own specialty, and it’s the duty of the setter to maximize their potential.”

He went on to explain his role in games, showing scanned cutouts from magazines. Their classmates _oooh’_ d and _aaah’_ d at the pictures. Some even loudly commented that they didn’t know Kageyama was a model.

Kageyama didn’t seem to understand their amusement, moving on with his presentation without replying to them.

 

After class, while Tadashi waited for Kageyama to finish packing his things, he saw Saeko-sensei saunter over and flash that teasing smile he remembered from months ago. Like before, Kageyama blushed to the tips of his ears and scowled at their professor. She laughed and patted him on the shoulder before walking off.

“What did Saeko-sensei tell you?” Tadashi asked, when Kageyama stopped by his side.

Kageyama glanced at him, then away. “She asked me if I already asked you out.”

“Oh.”

“I said I haven’t.”

“Yeah, you haven’t.”

“She said I was being a chicken and laughed at me.” Kageyama scowled again. “I don’t _get_ her.”

“Why haven’t you asked me out?” Tadashi asked, since he was curious about that. Usually, the was what happened after a confession, right? You either go out or get rejected. Tadashi was never offered any of those choices. Kageyama said his piece, and left Tadashi reeling.

Kageyama stared at Tadashi in confusion. “You already know I like you.”

“Yeah,” Tadashi said. He looked around. The room was empty now. He wondered for a second why they always ended up here: talking about something important in this classroom. Maybe because everything started here.

After a few moments of silence, he continued, “But you never asked me what I feel.”

Kageyama blinked. “What you feel?”

Tadashi nodded.

Kageyama watched him for a long time, intense and terrifying as always. Tadashi thought he was glaring, back when they first met, but this was just the way he studied people, wasn’t it? Didn’t anybody teach him that staring was _rude_? Probably not. Kageyama was the single most socially awkward person Tadashi had ever met.

“What do you feel?” Kageyama finally asked.

Tadashi steeled himself. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I feel… like I want to know more about you.”

 

-

-

-

(●´□`)♡ Two (●´□`)♡ Years (●´□`)♡ Later

 

“How about this shirt?” Tadashi asked, grinning at his boyfriend of one year. They were about to go on their anniversary date, which consisted of playing volleyball with the neighborhood association and visiting Tadashi’s family.

“Bad,” Tobio said with a grimace.

Tadashi narrowed his eyes. “Does it look bad on me or is it bad for _your health_?”

“The second one,” Tobio said. “It looks _really_ good. Don’t wear it outside.”

Tadashi laughed. “I’m gonna wear it,” he said, sticking out his tongue. “You can’t stop me.”

“Wear it another time,” Tobio grumbled. “When Oikawa-san isn’t there.”

“Oikawa’s just teasing you when he said he’ll snatch me up, you know? He’s _engaged_. And Iwaizumi-san is the hottest person I’ve ever met, so.”

Tobio frowned. “You’re hotter.”

“I’m not, seriously. Have you _seen_ his biceps?”

“Have you _seen_ your face?” Tobio said, clearly imitating his tone.

“You always flatter me,” Tadashi said, giggling and leaning in to kiss him on the cheek.

“I’m just saying the truth,” Tobio said, earnest as always.

Tadashi smiled. The road they traveled was full of misconceptions and insecurities, but Tadashi was glad they got to where they were. He was glad he finally understood what was going on inside that glaring boy’s head.

It turns out, Murder Eyes™ didn’t want to murder him at all.


End file.
